Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty..., Ramona Ausubel
Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty..., Ramona Ausubel
List: $19.95 | Sale: $13.97
Club: $9.97

Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty

Author: Ramona Ausubel

Narrator: Elisabeth Rodgers

Unabridged: 10 hr 27 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/14/2016

Synopsis

From the award–winning author of No One Is Here Except All of Us comes an imaginative novel about a wealthy New England family in the 1960s and ’70s that suddenly loses its fortune—and its bearings.Labor Day 1976, Martha’s Vineyard. Summering at the family beach house along this moneyed coast of New England, Fern and Edgar—married with three children—are happily preparing for a family birthday celebration when they learn that the unimaginable has occurred: there is no more money. More specifically, there’s no more money in the estate of Fern’s recently deceased parents, which, as the sole source of Fern and Edgar’s income, had allowed them to live this beautiful, comfortable life despite their professed anti-money ideals. Quickly, the once-charmed family unravels. In distress and confusion, Fern and Edgar are each tempted away on separate adventures: she on a road trip with a stranger, he on an ill-advised sailing voyage with another woman. The three children are left for days with no guardian whatsoever in an improvised Neverland helmed by the tender, witty, and resourceful Cricket, age nine.Brimming with humanity and wisdom, humor and bite, and imbued with both the whimsical and the profound, Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty is a story of American wealth, class, family, and mobility approached by award–winner Ramona Ausubel with a breadth of imagination and understanding that is fresh, surprising, and exciting.

About Ramona Ausubel

Ramona Ausubel grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She holds an MFA from the University of California, Irvine where she won the Glenn Schaeffer Award in Fiction. Her work was included in a list of '100 Other Distinguished Stories of 2008' in the Best American Short Stories and thrice as a 'Notable' story in the Best American Non-Required Reading. She was a finalist for the Pushcart Prize. She lives in Santa Barbara, California.

About Elisabeth Rodgers

Elisabeth Rodgers is an actress and AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator. After graduating from Princeton University, she completed a two-year program at William Esper Studio. She has recorded dozens of books for a multitude of publishers.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Marjorie on June 01, 2016

In 1976, Fern and Edgar were a well-to-do couple with three children. They are enjoying their summer at their beach house in New England as usual when they learn that all of their money is gone. The shock of this news sends Fern and Edgar off on their own fantasy adventures. Edgar takes off with an......more

Goodreads review by Steph on August 30, 2016

If you enjoyed Fates & Furies and The Nest, you'll like this book even more. I did! The writing is lovely and poetic and evocative, and the story is not only wonderfully imaginative with a touch of what smacks of magic realism but isn't; it is also beautifully enriched by the varying depths of emoti......more

Goodreads review by Laurel on May 24, 2016

Fern, Edgar, their daughter and twin sons return to Cambridge after spending the summer at their beach house in Martha’s Vineyard. Fern has heard from her deceased parents’ lawyer that all of her money is gone and unless Edgar returns to work for his father, they will be unable to continue their cur......more

Goodreads review by Autumn on August 14, 2016

I think the author was attempting to say something meaningful about class and wealth in American society with this story, but failed and wrote one of those awful stories about young white people who are super attractive but also damaged emotionally and have awful parents and then mess up their relat......more

Quotes

“A book brimming with life by an author bursting with talent.” Maggie Shipstead, New York Times bestselling author

“Ausubel charts the unfolding crisis with tenderness, wit, and a sly understanding of wealth and its limitations.” People

“Devilishly imaginative” Vanity Fair

“Ausubel’s often whimsical prose is in top form yet again as she imbues the story with her signature touch of magic.” Elle

“Ausubel’s timely, sophisticated tale explores what happens when a charmed life loses its luster.” O, The Oprah Magazine

“An imaginative read with a dash of drama and some deep insight on wealth and class in America.” USA Today

“Weird and wonderful…Ausubel’s writing, melancholy and fine, shines in illuminating everyday scenes of life.” New York Times Book Review

“Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty is a charming summer tale of wealth and its loss…Fern and Cricket especially endear through their apt, universal observations on motherhood and childhood.” Los Angeles Times

“A terrific exuberance and tenderness drives the telling, as it wings back and forth in time: full-blooded, sorrowing, funny, lush with backstories and images so acute you read them twice, three times.” San Francisco Chronicle

“Ausubel’s characters steer her bold and absorbing novel and keep us emotionally invested in their foibles, ideals, and desires.” Minneapolis Star Tribune

Awards

  • Millions.com Pick
  • BuzzFeed Books Pick
  • Library Journal Editor’s Pick
  • Elle Magazine Pick
  • Huffington Post Pick
  • Harper’s Bazaar Pick
  • Refinery29 Pick
  • HelloGiggles Pick
  • InStyle Pick
  • People Pick of the Week
  • PopSugar Pick
  • Kirkus Reviews Pick
  • Chicago Tribune Pick
  • Travel+Leisure Magazine Pick
  • Newsday Pick
  • Amazon Best Books of the Year
  • NPR Best Book
  • Oprah Book of the Summer
  • Literary Hub Pick
Add to Cart
Add to Wish List